Our Primary Basket Products

Our fine baskets are made from a reed that grows naturally throughout Cambodia. Kept dry it will last for untold years and keep both its shape and crispness.

Damp or Wet Conditions: Under somewhat humid conditions, they will also last for years, but will be a bit more pliable. Even at this stage they can always be moved back to a dry environment to regain both strength and rigidity.

If any of these baskets get wet, just dry them as soon as possible.

Fruit or Vegetable Stains: Even deeps stains from rotting fruit or vegetables can often be removed if it is done gently. Just take a soft natural bristle brush and warm soapy water and gently stroke away the stain, moving in one direction

Paints and Lacquers: These may be applied to any of our baskets with results only depending on the skill of application. Baskets of Cambodia! has chosen not to use toxic paints or dyes on any of their baskets. Choice of color is a very individual thing, and the application of lacquers may look good at first application, but this look does not hold up over time, as the lacquer tends to crack, age, and separate.

Dyes: We do not recommend natural or chemical dyes for any of our basket products. They work but with somewhat inconsistent results. For our natural basket material to take a dye, it must either be lightly sanded, or twisted and skewered into a rope-like product in order to break the natural membrane that protects this materials. Doing this will remove the sheen which is part of its special natural beauty.

Our Smoked Basket Products

Our smoked baskets are made from bamboo. Smoking the baskets dries them out completely and makes them unappetizing to all insects. Smoking also creates some interesting and exotic hues that bring out the Southeast Asian origins of these baskets.

Once they are smoked and dried they are considered finished. If you choose to apply a finish, natural lacquers or varnishes are much more suitable than paints. Whereas lacquer or varnish can destroy the look of the fine baskets as the lacquer ages, this is not the case with the bamboo basket. The ageing lacquer may actually make the baskets look more antique and attractive to some.

In fact, lacquer is often used throughout Southeast Asia to make baskets and wood products look much older than they are, in order to command a higher price.

Either way, the bamboo baskets will resist moisture well and will hold up for many, many years. They may very well become authentic museum pieces, with or without lacquer, as most of these designs are authentic village pieces that can be traced back centuries.

Care of our Tatami Style Products

Our tatami style products originate from a natural seagrass that has evolved for thousands of years around the wetlands of Cambodia. The grass can grow as high as 8’ tall. Only the best grass and the best part of the stalk is utilized for the range of products that we carry.

All of these tatami style products can sustain moderate contact with moisture, as long as the product is allowed to completely dry out after this contact.

The tatami purses can sustain limited contact with moisture with no problem. If stained they can also be lightly cleaned with warm soapy water. The key is to immediately dry them after this.

Food stains with few exceptions can also be easily washed off of the place mats and table runners as well, as long as the contact with the stain is limited. They may be lightly cleaned after every meal, and damped where necessary. Afterwards they should be set aside to dry.

The dyed tatami style products are never 100% colorfast. As they age, they become more and more so, but the only way to seal in all color would be to apply plastic or a sealant that would destroy the natural vitality of these products.

Our yoga-beach mats may be taken to the beach, to a picnic, to lay a sleeping bag on, to watch an outdoor event- any number of uses but one should use caution with especially light fabrics that may rub against the dye. Under casual use, with casual attire, this should not be a problem. When dressed in formal wear or expensive clothing, one should use common sense. After all, this is a natural product. It is much the same as not mixing reds with whites in your wash.

All these products can take dampness- Again they key is to dry them out much as you would dry out a sleeping bag each time it came into direct contact with moisture. If you use common sense, they can be used over and over again and even become better with age with the right care.

Our display mats and larger mats are also used as furniture accessories in the house. Remember this- This material was originally designed for floor mats in Southeast Asia. That meant walking on them with shoes off. This is still the best way for them to last as long as possible. In Cambodia they were generally laid on top of hard surfaces, giving the mat much more support and making it less likely to stretch. These larger mats work well and look awesome on finished hardwood floors or as wall hangings or room dividers. The same rules apply as far as contact with moisture- no extended contact, and dry immediately.